San Jose Sharks Should Have Plenty Of Salary Cap Space
Mar 28, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon (4) laughs during warm ups before a game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
On Thursday evening, during Game 3 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the salary cap for next season should be around $71 million.
According to an article by the Associated Press, Bettman said the salary cap is expected to rise about five percent from this season’s figure of $69 million.
This means the San Jose Sharks should be in a good position this offseason to add to their roster. The Sharks will need to make a decision in goal along with adding a couple of defensemen and some additional forward depth.
According to the website General Fanager, San Jose currently has a cap hit of $54.96 million for next season. If the salary cap is expected to rise to $71 million, that means the Sharks will have a little more than $16 million in cap space this offseason.
That should be more than enough to add the requisite pieces to get this franchise back into playoff contention. The Sharks have 12 forwards from last season’s team under contract, four defensemen, and their backup goaltender in Alex Stalock.
San Jose has some decisions to make with their unrestricted free agents in Antti Niemi, Scott Hannan, Matt Irwin and John Scott. Realistically, Irwin should be the only one back from this group.
In all likelihood, the Sharks will bring back restricted free agents Brenden Dillon and Melker Karlsson who shouldn’t eat up too much of the available cap space. This would leave San Jose with only a couple of roster spots to fill, with the flexibility to add salary via free agency or a trade. Also, San Jose signed free agent forward Joonas Donskoi from Finland this week who could also challenge for a roster spot come training camp.
All-in-all, the Sharks are sitting in a fairly healthy situation from a cap perspective to make the necessary upgrades to place a contender on the ice. Now, it’s up to general manager Doug Wilson to execute that plan.